In my youth (I am now 26), I had a yearly habit of visiting my Grandparents for a month during each Summer.
There was never much to do-- but thankfully, my late Grandmother could provide me with an endless supply of peanut butter and cable.
My show of choice was "Pinwheel". Within this 8 hour show (Yes. It aired from 6am to 2pm, I believe), I would sit for hours and watch "Hattytown Tales", "Simon, In The Land of Cartoons", "Paddington Bear", and "Chapi Chapo".
I was never a big fan of the puppets and the sketches they were included in. I loved the vignettes they included in the show, such as the ones I listed above. I always had to tune in to see what light-hearted predicament Sancho and Carrots would encounter today... or what mischief Paddington would get into to again infuriate Mr. Brown. What colors would Chapi and Chapo dance with in the World of Shapes? What would happen to Simon as he jumped the fence into the land of Cartoons this time?
My desktop wallpaper is a screenshot of "Hattytown Tales" and my "Start Windows" and "Exit Windows" sounds are the Hattytown theme song. I also downloaded the 1971 intro to "Chapi Chapo"-- a French claymation sketch-- and showed it to my 4 year old daughter. When Chapi and Chapo finished the song and danced away into the World of Shapes, my daughter began crying... because SHE wanted so badly to go with them.
Overall, "Pinwheel" was a blessing to many, many children born in the '70's and '80's. I only wish I could find some copies of the show or it's sketches so that my daughter can grow up with the same joys it brought me.
10 out of 10.
